With a Capital T
by TheGirlWhoRemembers
Summary: "Why do we keep going for trouble with a capital T? You know, damsels who bring distress into our lives? The ones where it's complicated is the understatement of the century?" Trouble always seems to find Mac and Jack. Problem is, they've got a weakness for trouble, with a capital T. Episode tag to 2.19, Benjamin Franklin and Grey Duffle.


AN: Thoughts on 2.19, Benjamin Franklin + Grey Duffle, at the end of this one-shot, complete with spoilers. (The one-shot itself also has lots of spoilers.)

* * *

 **MEN'S ROOM**

 **PHOENIX FOUNDATION HEADQUARTERS**

 **LA**

* * *

'Son, you reckon there's something wrong with us?'

Jack braced his hands on the sink, staring at his reflection and his partner, who was drying his hands, in the mirror.

(They were taking a quick bathroom break while Riley and Bozer started the search for Dawn and the missing million bucks using a program that the hacker had written.)

Mac snorted, trying to lighten the mood, cheer his partner up.

'Oh, there's definitely several things wrong with you, and I'm man enough to admit I've got my flaws-'

'I mean, seriously, brother, all we want is a good woman. Ain't _that_ much to ask.' Jack gestured to his face. 'Especially when you look like this.' Mac just quirked an eyebrow at him, and Jack waved off his partner's scepticism and continued. 'But why do we keep going for trouble with a capital T? You know, damsels who bring distress into our lives? The ones where _it's complicated_ is the understatement of the century?' Jack paused for emphasis and pointed at himself. 'Sarah. Dawn.' He pointed at the blonde. 'Nikki. And Miss CIA Engineer, what's-her-name…Allie? Heck, even that girl you liked when you were, like, twelve. Darlene? And I could go on-'

Mac looked incredulous.

'A, I was _fourteen_ when I asked Darlene to Prom. B, you could _not_ go on, because there's no-one to go on about. C, you're forgetting at least two women who fit that description relating to you that I know of…' He held up his hands as Jack shot him a dirty look. They'd solemnly sworn to never talk about those incidents ever again. '…but I won't name names.' His expression turned far more serious, softer, definitely a little sadder and more wistful. 'And I'm not sure, but I think it probably has to do with the fact that we're A, adrenaline junkies, and B, in our line of work, it is very, very difficult to meet a woman with whom we could have a healthy, functional, stable relationship…' Mac pulled a paperclip from his pocket, which rapidly took the shape of an ice-cream cone, voice growing much sadder, quieter. '…let alone get the chance to start that relationship…' A distinct note of bitterness entered his voice. '…not to mention the difficulty in maintaining said relationship.' Jack reached out and clasped Mac's shoulder for a moment, and the blonde nodded and gave a little smile in thanks, before he sought out Jack's eyes, his own very serious. 'But that doesn't mean it's impossible, and just because something's impossible, doesn't mean you shouldn't try anyway.' He looked very pointedly at the older man. 'A very good woman was jumping around your head a few weeks ago…'

Jack shook his head, very exasperatedly, but also very fondly.

'Come on, you too, son?'

Mac just held up his hands, leaning slightly backwards.

'I just want you to be happy, Jack.' He paused and looked down. 'Maybe…maybe guys in our line of work really don't get fairytale endings.' Mac looked back up again. 'But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try.'

Jack stared at him for a long, long moment. Mac often said the cheesiest, corniest things. The sort of thing that sounded rehearsed, like it was straight from one of Bozer's movie scripts.

The thing was, when Mac said those things, Jack and all of his loved ones knew that he meant it, every word.

(Even though Jack was also quite sure that his partner rehearsed what he was going to say in his head before he said it.)

(Mac's big brain was always buzzing, after all, and he did tend to be overly analytical, not to mention, this sort of thing wasn't his strongest suit.)

Then, after a moment of uncharacteristic hesitation, something almost _shy,_ he spoke.

'I…I've kinda been, brother.' Jack reached into his pocket, as if to grab his phone, before he realized that it was in pieces on the floor of a newly-confiscated house in suburbia in Lincoln, Nebraska. 'Diane and I…we've been texting and talking.' A grin slowly started to grow on Mac's face, and Jack held up a hand, then pointed at his partner. 'Now, don't you go counting your chickens before they hatch, and not a word to Riles, okay? We're taking this real slow; we got a lot to work through, lots of important conversations to have and all.' That, Mac thought, was probably still an understatement. There was the fact of Jack's job, and the way their relationship had ended all those years ago; throw Riley and her recruitment to the Phoenix, into a very dangerous job, essentially by Jack, plus Jack's kinda, sorta friendship with Elwood, and Diane and Jack had some very important conversations that they had to have. Something very soft, very serious, vulnerable and almost confessional appeared in the older man's eyes. 'We know we absolutely can't screw this up. And we don't wanna get Ri's hopes up, only to have 'em dashed and all, so…'

Mac nodded seriously, both in understanding and in a promise.

'My lips are sealed, I promise.' Jack gave a grateful little smile, and Mac reached out to clasp his partner's shoulder. 'And I have faith in you.'

Jack's smile widened a little, and he reached out and clasped Mac's shoulder in return.

'And I got faith in you, son.'

Jack firmly, firmly believed that Mac would find his right one, find himself a good woman to love and honour and cherish 'till death did they part and have baby MacGyvers who'd take apart toasters and build scale models of St Basil's Cathedral out of gumballs with.

He was a good man, quite possibly the best Jack had ever known.

He deserved it. More than deserved it.

So, just to be sure (he had faith, powerful faith, but he figured a little more help couldn't hurt), he sent up a little prayer that that'd be the case.

* * *

 **WAR ROOM**

 **PHOENIX FOUNDATION HEADQUARTERS**

* * *

'…we traced the money to Barberry Children's Home.'

An image of a red brick building, with a cluster of happy and well-cared-for children and a fairly-old, very kindly-looking woman opening boxes full of cash on the front porch, appeared on the screen, as Riley gestured to it.

Mac and Jack glanced at each other, before Jack slumped into one of the armchairs, rubbing his forehead with a hand, and Mac grabbed a paperclip from the bowl and started re-shaping it.

Bozer, being Bozer, said what they were all thinking but didn't exactly want to voice.

'Alright, so what do we do now?' He gestured to the screen. 'I mean, we can't take that cash from orphans, but it's also property stolen from the US government, and our boss gave us a mission…'

At that moment, the war room door burst open, and what appeared to be a tablet mounted on an automated wheeled stand entered the room, with Matty's still-badly-bruised face on the screen, followed almost-instantly by a sheepish and somewhat flustered Jill.

'…Director Webber, uh, Matty, sorry, that's really just a very quick prototype, I really don't think you should test drive it right now, and…'

The forensic tech trailed off a little awkwardly, as Jack, Bozer and Riley stared at Matty on the screen, while Mac stared at the thing that her tablet was mounted to.

(It appeared to be based on the bottom half of an office chair and a broomstick. There were also copious amounts of duct tape.)

Jill flushed a little as Mac shot her a rather impressed look, before turning his attention to Matty, who was shooting him a look that was very much _are you finished geeking out, Baby Einstein?'_

Mac nodded, despite the fact that his boss hadn't actually said anything out loud, and she spoke.

'As part of his sentence for his actions, Julian's rather substantial assets are all being liquidated, with the proceeds going to underprivileged and orphaned children. It seemed appropriate, given that his crimes cost two kids their father. Barberry Children's Home received $1 million as a result.' Matty's voice and expression was full of double-meaning. 'As the reports said, we recovered only $4 million from Peru, which is all accounted for, so obviously, it can't be from there.' They all breathed a sigh of relief. Especially, they all noted, Jack, which led Mac and Riley to exchange a slightly-concerned glance. 'But Dawn broke her deal with the CIA. She's a fugitive, and she's now on _several_ most-wanted lists. If we get the chance, we have to take her down. Understood?' Riley, Mac and Bozer all simply nodded, as Matty pinned Jack with her most Matty-the-Hun stare. The former CIA agent was still for a long, long moment, before he swallowed and gave a slightly jerky nod. 'Good.' She glanced over at Riley. 'The CIA are turning Julian's computer over to us; they don't want the investigation compromised in case he wasn't the only corrupt agent, take Bozer with you to pick it up…'

* * *

 **MACGYVER'S RESIDENCE**

 **LA**

* * *

Mac, Jack, Riley and Bozer sat around the fire-pit, accompanied by Jill and Matty, on her tablet, which was still mounted to Jill's DIY 'be there when you aren't' robot.

(Matty herself was still in hospital, under observation.)

(She was already terrifying the medical staff out of their wits, so it was obvious that she'd sustained no lasting damage and would be 100% recovered in no time.)

As they roasted marshmallows for s'mores, Jill excitedly and enthusiastically explained microbial forensics to Jack and Bozer, doing, Mac thought, a pretty good job of it too. They seemed to grasp most of the concept, and weren't just nodding along.

 _At the end of the day, all of us, despite what we might say, or how we might seem, are the sort of people who look for the good in others._

Riley smiled at her phone screen, something soft and fond in her eyes as her fingers flew across the keyboard, replying to a text that Mac was 98% sure was from a certain bounty hunter.

 _We're also the type to make the most of what we have. To build something from junk and scraps. To find light in the darkness. To make friends into family._

Mac rolled his eyes, as did Matty and Riley, as Jack set his marshmallow on fire with glee.

(Why Jack preferred lumps of an indeterminate mixture of partially oxidised carbon compounds – otherwise known as black gunk – to marshmallows toasted – perfectly – according to his marshmallow-toasting algorithm, he really didn't know.)

 _That is, at the end of the day, we're optimists._

 _Some say that those in our line of work don't get happy endings._

 _But we're gonna try our best to make one anyway._

* * *

AN: I'm particularly proud of this episode tag, actually – I'd rank it up with _There's No Manual for This, Tea and Rocky Road_ and _Irreconcilable Differences,_ which are my three favourites of my Season 2 episode tags. What did you guys think? Yay? Nay? Did I get the tone right? Are you guys fans of Jack/Diane like I am? :P (Yeah, I couldn't resist putting it in this…you all know I have a shipper heart!) I hope you think that it's in-character for Matty to give Dawn a small reprieve (in not ordering them to go after her immediately) when it came to light what she did with the money. (Yes, it's somewhat questionable and unrealistic given her job, but hey, it's a TV show, and it did seem like the sort of thing they'd allow in _MacGyver –_ she gave Cage a job and kept her out of jail despite the fact that she committed a very serious crime in going rogue, breaking her oath to the CIA, because she did it for the right reasons, and it was never questioned.)

Thoughts on 2.19, Benjamin Franklin + Grey Duffle: I enjoyed the episode! I was a bit worried at first when I heard Dawn was coming back (come on, I want endgame Jack/Diane, and I'm really not a fan of Jack/Dawn – I mean, I liked the fact that it happened the way it happened in 2.15, Mardi Gras Beads + Chair, but I don't like them as a long-term couple – I firmly agree with Mac on this one!), but I think they handled it quite well. Protective!Mac and protective!Riley were great; it was a lovely little role-reversal! Riley's threat to Dawn was also just awesome. I also did like the irony of the fact that Mac and Jack are always giving each other extremely good and extremely sensible relationship advice, yet are utterly hopeless (and terrible at taking their own advice) when it comes to their own love lives. The notion of Mac and Riley being Jack/Diane shippers is also just adorable…if I had the time, I would totally write a _Parent-Trap-_ esque story in which new friends kid!Mac and kid!Riley try to set up his adoptive father-figure with her mom…eh, maybe I'll get around to writing that one day. All in all, I think the way they ended everything with Dawn was good, with everyone being half-right about her. I suspect we'll see more of her in the future, which I'm still on the fence about…don't get me wrong, she's exciting to have around, as Mac said, and I like her as a character, and I totally see why Jack's into her (definitely in-character!), but I don't want them to be together! (And not just 'cause I, like Riley, ship Jack/Diane – I really just want Jack – like everyone else – to be happy, as happy was they can possibly be, and I just don't think Dawn's right for Jack – even if she doesn't really want to or intend to, I think she will wind up breaking Jack's heart.)


End file.
